So much bullshit. Fewer working hours are not bad work ethics. Europeans work fewer hours, not less effectively. Output per hour in Germany, France, and the Netherlands is at or above the US. Productivity is about what you produce per hour, not how long you sit at work.
EU government spending is roughly 49 to 51 percent of GDP, and that covers healthcare, pensions, education, childcare, disability, infrastructure, and public investment. The US sits around 36 to 38 percent, but Americans then pay privately for the same things through insurance premiums, medical bills, student loans, and fees that never show up as taxes. GDP does not care whether you pay a hospital with taxes or a credit card.
Government spending share tells you nothing about efficiency, productivity, or living standards. The US only looks smaller because healthcare, pensions, and education are privatized and show up later as household debt and insurance premiums instead of taxes. Same cost, worse distribution.
Dalio’s actual concern about Europe is demographics and capital markets depth, not that public spending makes GDP fake or people lazy. Quoting him like that is just misleading.
Half of EU GDP is Government Spending financed by high taxes that have reduced incentives to work. Ray Dalio: EU‘s biggest problem is poor work ethics. EU GDP: Pay someone to dig a hole, then pay someone else to shovel it closed, then take half their pay in taxes.